A police investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Diplo could lead to criminal charges against the producer/DJ, BuzzFeed reports.
The Los Angeles city attorney’s office is currently mulling charges of invasion of privacy and intentionally giving someone a sexually transmitted disease. The accusations are based on a complaint an unnamed 25-year-old woman made with the Los Angeles Police Department in October 2020. In the complaint, the woman accused Diplo (real name Thomas Wesley Pentz), of recording and distributing sexually explicit videos of her without her consent, and knowingly infecting her with chlamydia.
The woman also told police that Pentz raped her in his Las Vegas hotel room after a concert in July 2019, although no charges were filed. Days after the alleged rape, the woman tested positive for chlamydia, per medical records, and the woman has claimed that, at the time, Pentz was her first and only sexual partner. (This allegation appears to be different from a sexual assault lawsuit against Pentz that also involved an alleged incident in Las Vegas, but was dropped in July.)
A spokesperson for the L.A. City Attorney told BuzzFeed, “We are reviewing the referral and have no further comment at this time.” The L.A. City Attorney’s office did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
A lawyer for Diplo also did not immediately return a request for comment.
The woman first brought her allegations against Pentz last year, detailing them in a request for a temporary restraining order against him, as well as a civil lawsuit filed earlier this year. Pentz not only denied the allegations at the time the first restraining order was filed, but he applied for his own, which was also granted; he also sued the woman for stalking, trespassing, and distribution of private materials. (Both restraining orders lapsed in January when lawyers for both parties didn’t show up at a hearing, prompting the judge to dismiss them.)
From Rolling Stone US
